Back To The Mannequinarium

NEW RECRUITS

Its been awhile I know.

I lost my mojo there for a period.

I am now back to doing stuff that I want to do and it seems to be paying off.

My work has being selling steadily this year, all my mannequins have gone.

I have also sold a number of Pirate bottles, potion bottles and mini shrines.

I have decided to re-open the Mannequinarium and have started making blanks with  

commissions already on the books.

So here are a few pictures of the blanks I have made before I start decorating them.

These are paper casts taken from my master.

Thanks for looking

John & Heather xx

New Year , New Adventures

New Premises

We have been working on this project behind the scenes for a while.

We have viewed a number of premises, all seemed right at the time of viewing but none of them actually panned out.

And then we found this place, 2700 square foot, Ideal for what we want. 

Front main sales area

Rear sales area

The signing of the lease

The lease now signed our official moving in date is the 2nd of January.

Watch this space to see what we are up to.

John &  Heather

Hello Again

I know....................

Its been awhile, where have we been?  what have we been doing?

Well it has been a year ( almost to the day ) since we last posted.

We decided to take a year off from what we were doing to reflect and plan what we wanted to do going forward.

The teaching format that we were using was no longer working for us. There were too many limitations and restrictions which weren't proportional to the recompense and time invested.

None the less things have been ticking over and developing nicely in the background.

This should all come to fruition on Monday when the next leg of our journey begins.

We can then let people know what we are doing?

I suppose this post is a combination of a thanks post and a hello and welcome post.

The new year presents lots of new problems and opportunities not just for us but the people we will become involved with. 

Its good to be back.

John & Heather.

Craftstaion Dabble Day

Dabble Day Projects

The "Dabble Day" what a fantastic concept.

50 ladies, 5 tutors a fantastic day packed with crafting.

That's without all the lovely food provided throughout the day.

I taught a Powertex Stone Art Reindeer and Heather taught the fantastic fabric gnomes.

There was a great buzz all day and all the ladies did really well with their 5 one hour projects

Well done ladies

Thanks for looking John & Heather xx

Taster workshop bottle cuffs

Introducing Powertex

I was recently asked to do a Powertex taster session at my local Sewing shop.

Sewilicious, Outram Street, Sutton in Ashfield.

restricted to 1hr we made these lovely bottle cuffs.

If you would like to do a small introduction workshop or something a little more advanced 

feel free to drop me a message.

Thanks for looking

Joh & Heather xx

Powertex Victorian Christmas Baubles at Sewilicious

Victorian Baubles

Hello again , as you may or may not know I have been AWOL for a bit?

Things change and life throws many different things at us,

 so it was good to get back in the saddle so to speak.

I haven't taught a workshop for awhile and thought it about time to get back into it.

And so,  another great day teaching Powertex Victorian baubles

The venue, Sewilicious in Sutton in Ashfield

As ever we had a great day and all the baubles turned out lovely

Check out the pictures.

Thanks for looking 

John & Heather xx

Nostell Priory

A Mix Of Business And Pleasure

Quite a busy weekend this weekend, unfortunately the weather had changed.

On Saturday I had to go to Otley to pick up some bits I had bought so we decided to make a day of it

A trip in to Wakefield to start the day. This was my first visit and its quite a nice little place.

We decided to make the most of our National Trust cards this year so Nostell Priory was the next stop.

Built in 1733 for the Winn family and designed by architect Robert Adams.

Heather wanted to see the Chippendale pieces and the John Harrison Clock Display.

I have driven past here so many times but didn't realise what a lovely place it is.

Sorry no pictures of the house for some reason

The ever changing weather means we always have our rain coats with us.

The persistent rain didn't stop us enjoying our hot chocolate and cake.

Thanks for looking

John & Heather xx

Powertex Homage To The " Caribbean "

Calypso The Call Of The Siren 

Its been awhile since I blogged anything crafty on here. 

So here goes I recently got a commission this was on the back of one of my sample pieces 

The piece they saw was the one on the right which I call the pirates potion bottle

Recently a lady saw it and asked me to make her one, she also wanted a female counterpart

On talking it came out that she is a big Pirates of the Caribbean fan.

It made sense then to do a Calypso/Siren homage.

Here is the work in progress. 

I will post when its finished if anybody would like to do it has a workshop, you know where I am.

Hope you like it 

Thanks for looking

John & Heather xx

Almost A Year

Not Long Now

I can't believe its almost a year since we got married 

Here are a couple of snaps from our honeymoon 

We were lucky enough to cruise The Mosel and The Rhine rivers and see some stunning places

Lots of castles and finally on our trip to Holland some fantastic working vintage windmills.

I was really impressed with the parts of Germany that I saw.

A lovely clean place.

Thanks for looking 

John & Heather xx

Out And About:- The Classic Scene

Ashover Classic Car Show

We decided to have a break from the National Trust this week and check out a Classic car show.

Two reasons for this, one we both love classic cars and two there was an auto jumble as well.

We are still on the look out for pieces for our own pet project that is "Priscilla"

Hopefully we will be able to share her story with you soon.

This cool Bedford J2 coach was the pick of the bunch for me.

She was used to ferry about the staff of The Queen Mothers household.

Some more amazing classics

Check out the paint on that pick-up.

Thanks for looking 

John & Heather xx